How to prevent, treat, and cope with an injury

Ask any athlete what their biggest concern or fear is and they will tell you it’s getting hurt to the point that they can’t practice their sport any longer. This applies even more to martial arts. Serious injuries can be an athlete’s worst nightmare. Not being able to train for a prolonged amount of time can greatly set back anyone’s progress and emotionally subdue his/her self-confidence and motivation. Just as the mind dictates what the body will do, oftentimes, wherever the physical body goes, the mind follows. Think of someone who has been overweight their entire lives and suddenly loses an abundance amount of weight through diet and exercise. Their entire attitude, persona, and energy takes a 180 degree turn for the better. The same applies to someone who is in great shape and then slowly falls into a pattern of overeating, gaining excessive weight. They will feel lethargic and not as energetic or confident as someone who takes care of their “temple.”

Here are some ways to …

Prevent – During training make sure you warm up your body with light drills and exercises to get your body warm and agile.

Have consistency in your training. Make sure you are maintaining yourself in fighting shape and have a complete understanding of your body’s capabilities and amount of stress it can withstand.

Focus on the technique, not speeding through your workout to make quick time. And it’s not about beating your fellow athletes time…the only person you should compete with is yourself.

If at any point you feel your body is in danger of injury, immediately stop. Its not shameful in doing so because you only learn from the lesson and make yourself a better athlete. Most importantly, you’re able to continue training. An injury is not worth trying to prove to yourself or anyone how good of a athlete you are.

Treat – The first thing one should do proceeding an injury is to seek professional help. Before you start to think about how you will continue training or when you will get better, seek out medical attention specializing in your specific injury.

Talk to your instructor and ask them how they feel about the injury and if they believe you are able to come back and train. Chances are they have been through it all and experienced a few or more injuries themselves. This is important because your doctor may say its OK, but your instructor may not.

Once you have received the okay from both your physician and instructor to continue training, make sure you take care of that muscle/joint/ligament more so than ever. This means that while training, have 100% communication with your sparring partner and let them know the situation so that they can become aware and assist you in not continuing any damage.

Ice the injured area constantly. Make sure you allow the injury to heal by resting as often as possible when you are not training.

Move Forward – As you treat the injury, make sure you take care of your mental attitude as well. It can be very easy after getting injured to become depressed and lack the self motivation to keep you strong and positive. This is your most important medicine and the body’s greatest ally for improvement. The right mindset will allow you to see the light at the end of the tunnel and makes the rehabilitation process much easier and faster.

Even if you are not able to fully train yet, don’t hesitate to break a sweat. Maybe you can’t engage in full contact sparring , but you may be able to perform certain exercises or perform cardiovascular exercises and drills. Never add damage to the injury by continuing to apply unwanted stress, however, if possible, don’t let your body go without some active recovery. This will make it much easier to get started again once the injury is fully recovered.